Become a Gardener

The work

Gardeners look after parks, gardens and green spaces. Their work can include:

• raising plants from seeds or cuttings
• digging and applying mulch
• planting and weeding flower beds and borders
• tidying pathways
• mowing and edging lawns
• pruning shrubs
• checking the health of plants and applying fertiliser and pesticides
• using hand tools such as spades, shears and hoes
• using machinery such as lawn mowers, rotavators and hedge trimmers
• clearing leaves and litter
• building compost heaps or chipping bark for paths
• maintaining tools and equipment.

Some gardeners perform basic building tasks such as putting up sheds and building walls and patios.

In public and historic gardens gardeners may have to answer enquiries from members of the public.

Hours and Environment

Gardeners who work for employers such as local authorities usually work a 36 or 37-hour week. Overtime, weekend and part-time work is available, particularly during busy times. Self-employed gardeners set their own hours.

They mainly work outdoors, in most weather conditions. Their work is often disrupted by the weather, so they need to be flexible.

For some jobs gardeners will wear safety equipment such as gloves, eye protectors and hard hats. Gardening can be very strenuous as it involves a lot of lifting, digging and carrying.

Self-employed gardeners need a driving licence.

Skills and Interests

To be a gardener, you should:

• be interested in plants and nature
• enjoy working outdoors in most weathers
• have a good level of strength and fitness
• be creative and have an eye for detail
• have good commercial sense if self-employed.

Entry

You do not need any particular qualifications for working as a gardener but you must be able to show genuine interest in gardening, and some experience would be an advantage.

If you do not have any experience you could start by doing one of the following courses:

• BTEC First Certificate in Horticulture
• BTEC National Certificate in Horticulture (England and Wales)
• SQA National Certificate Modules (Scotland)
• National Proficiency Tests Council (NPTC) Level 2 Certificate in Gardening.

If you are aged between 16 and 24 you might be able to do an apprenticeship. Please see the Training section for more information.

Training

You will usually train on the job.

You might be able to work towards:

• NVQ/SVQ Level 1in Horticulture
• NVQ/SVQ levels 1, 2, 3, and 4 in Amenity Horticulture
• NVQ/SVQ levels 1, 2, and 3 in Production Horticulture.

If your job involves tasks such as operating chainsaws and using pesticides, you are legally required to have certificates of competence. These are awarded by the National Proficiency Tests Council (NPTC), the Scottish Skills Testing Service (SSTS) and Lantra Awards.

Other courses include:

• a range of short courses awarded by the NPTC, the SSTS and Lantra Awards
• a range of distance learning courses run by the Horticultural Correspondence College
• the one-year Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Advanced National Certificate in Horticulture  - this is available after you have completed the RHS General Examination.

As a follow-on to these you could consider higher level courses such as:

• BTEC Higher National Diploma (HND), foundation degree or degree in horticulture
• Kew Diploma
• Edinburgh Diploma
• RHS Diploma in Horticulture

Please see the Further Information section for contact details for the relevant organisations.

You can do specialist training courses in areas such as:

• greenkeeping
• sports turf culture
• arboriculture (the care of trees and shrubs).

Please see the Groundsman/woman, Arboricultural Worker and Arboriculturalist profiles for more details of these.

Apprenticeships may be available for those under the age of 24. In England these are currently Apprenticeships (level 2) and Advanced Apprenticeships (level 3). To find out more about these, visit www.apprenticeships.org.uk

Apprenticeships may be different in other areas. For further information see Scotland , Wales and Northern Ireland

Opportunities

There are nearly 90,000 gardeners in the UK, employed by local authorities, private companies or private households.

Voluntary sector organisations such as the National Trust, the Royal Parks and botanical gardens are large employers. Some gardeners also work for garden centres. Self-employment prospects are good.

Annual Income

Figures are intended as a guideline only.

Gardeners may earn from around £10,500 to around £18,500.

Self-employed gardeners usually negotiate an hourly rate. This will vary according to the area of the country